Tag Archives: higher education

The reason why I can’t really get into, but a question has been cycling through my mind in recent days. Is it better to know what’s going on, behind the curtain so to speak, or to remain blissfully oblivious? My education teaches me that there is an underlying order to everything, and that order can be known an understood. But, the question remains if that order SHOULD be understood (or known, if you will).

The fusion and fission of an atom is what provides us with light and warmth. But that same process, when known and understood was converted into the most powerful weapon of destruction ever known. Birds have been flying since the dawn of creation. Humans captured that power and now have a delivery system both for themselves, humanitarian aid, and yes, those same atomic and nuclear weapons.

So, the question remains. Would life be better if there was some information we didn’t know. Is the world any better off now that we know how to destroy it? Would information that could destroy a family be better left unsaid?

My entire life, people have told me things. Most of the time, there is something so unmentionable, something they can’t bring themselves to say. This one will tell me one side. Another individual will tell me the other side. All too often, I just wish I had a flash gun that would let me erase memories like something out of Men in Black.

Other times, my gut (no, I’m not Gibbs, not even close) tells me things. My mind just puts weird things together in a quite odd manner. It’s weird; while I don’t “know” something, it just doesn’t surprise me when I find out, often months later.

The problem is when I find out something I’m not supposed to know. Every now and then, one piece falls in place that enables me to put the puzzle together before anyone wants me to know the full picture. I’m not supposed to know what I know, so I can’t talk to any one about it.

This is what bothers me. I can’t do anything with the information. I’ve spent the last five years being pounded with the fact that all information is to be desired and to always work for more and MORE information. But I can’t help but think that there are some things I would just rather not know.

Ok, theory friends of mine. Eat your heart out. Help your empiricist buddy sort through this one. Is knowledge always preferable to ignorance? Or is one of the assumptions of the Western Analytical Tradition false?

One of the things I miss most in academia is the certainty of knowing something. Most people outside the “cult” of academia think it is just memorizing a bunch of facts, and to a certain extent, it is. But, once you reach a certain point, there are no more facts. There is only research and “data.” You cannot say “this is the way the world works.” Instead, you have to rely on such things as “it appears” or “the data suggests” or “one might infer that…” Even certain “facts,” such as the theory of relativity, are not fully accepted. In fact, that theory is almost universally as being inaccurate. But, it is still taught because nothing else describes the phenomena as well. (In order to discard it, the new theory would have to describe it better, or be simpler… It’s called Occam’s Razor.)

At the upper levels of academia, results are rarely disputed. Instead, only the methods utilized to obtain those results are examined. That is all that can really be done. The results are plain. If everything is acceptable in regards to methodology, the result is either tentatively accepted, or found to be the results of chance.

But, beyond the realm of science, there is doctrine. While Scripture cannot be proven academically, it has not been disproven. To accept it, we need something stronger than facts. We need something beyond the understanding of empiricists. We need FAITH.

Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (NKJV) Yet, we know it still happened. Faith is powerful. Jesus said, in Matthew 17:20, “…I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” With faith, nothing is impossible! Hebrews 11:4-35 tells a story of amazing things accomplished through faith.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”;for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child[b] when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw hewas a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land,whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

As I live in the world where “facts” are questioned, the known is challenged, and all knowledge is accepted only as suggestion, I take comfort in the fact that God has given me something with more certainty. I KNOW I am a child of the King! My God created the heavens and the earth. My God rules the universe.

I KNOW there is one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

I KNOW there is a Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And finally, I KNOW there is one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. (adapted from the Nicene Creed)